


Push

by cosmicallycatastrophic



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Blind Date, F/F, M/M, au where theyre just normal people, bucky and nat are gay, disclaimer i know nothing about rebecca so sorry in advance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 12:31:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11646621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicallycatastrophic/pseuds/cosmicallycatastrophic
Summary: AU where Natasha is a martial arts instructor, and Rebecca needs a favour. That favour is to go on a date with her brother, James. It's a shame they're both gay.





	Push

**Author's Note:**

> hello firstly i do not speak russian so it's probably wrong, secondly i know absolutely zero about rebecca barnes other than she's bucky's sister and that's the character i needed so sorry if i did her dirty.

The session has finished, and most of the students are leaving the studio, stretching and chatting among themselves. It was more exhausting than usual today, not physically, but it’s draining to go through the same motions over and over for people who barely try. Natasha is glad she teaches martial arts to adults, because god knows she wouldn’t be much good with children, but adults do tend to give up more easily. They don’t realise that perfect execution takes a lot of practise. Nat knows this, has known this since she started kickboxing and gymnastics at eight years old.

Natasha is just unwrapping the tape from her knuckles when Rebecca comes over to her. She’s smiling and bouncy, her hair a little frizzed from sweat.

“Hey, Nat, I liked those moves today.” She does a surprisingly well-executed kick that reaches Natasha’s bellybutton. Both Rebecca’s posture and perseverance is the best in the class, and Natasha can’t really help that she’s attracted to that. She likes competence, strength, poise. Rebecca has all of these in spades, and she’s actually fun. Natasha gives a little half smile.

“You’re good, but it’s better if you brace yourself,” she moves behind Rebecca and grips her upper arms to put her in a more balanced stance. “Like that.” She moves away and Rebecca kicks again, and laughs.

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” She says, her voice light and slightly teasing.

Natasha starts packing up her gym bag and notices that Rebecca is still hovering around, not doing anything.

“Are you staying behind for something?” She asks, because as much as she enjoys Rebecca’s company, she wants to get home and take a shower and watch Project Runway.

“Well, uh, actually- you remember I told you about my brother, James?” Rebecca looks awkward now, like she’s going to say something that she knows Natasha won’t like. “My mom is still on at him to get a girlfriend. Like, really insistent. She says if he doesn’t start going on dates she’s gonna send him to some weird singles retreat with a bunch of strangers. And he really can’t do that, he has- he doesn’t like meeting new people in situations like that.”

Natasha thinks she might know where this is going.

“So I was wondering- and it doesn’t have to mean anything, you don’t have to like him- if you wouldn’t mind going out with him, for dinner or something. Just once. As a favour to me? It would mean a lot, I just want my mom to lay off, she doesn’t get what he’s been through, relationship-wise.” Rebecca stands there, unsure and hesitant, and Natasha actually considers it. She figures it can’t be that bad to spend a few hours with a stranger; if she thinks of it like a work meeting, it’s completely normal, and the fact that she’ll probably get a free meal out of it makes the idea more appealing. She’ll just tell the brother politely that she’s not interested in men, and proceed to have a mediocre-to-enjoyable evening. There’s really no reason not to do it, especially if it’s a favour to Rebecca.

Natasha shrugs and starts writing her phone number in her diary. She rips out the sheet and hands it to Rebecca.

“Here’s my number, I’m free this Saturday if that works. But do _not_ give him the impression that this is a date, I’m not leading him on.”

Rebecca breaks into a glowing smile. “Thank you so much, Nat. It means a lot to me that you’d do this.”

“It’s no skin off my back,” Natasha says, half-smiling again. “I’ll see you next week, Rebecca.”

She slings her bag onto her shoulder and steps out of the sports complex as Rebecca heads to the ladies changing room. She wonders, absently, what James is like. She wonders if he’s anything like Rebecca.

* * *

 

It’s Saturday morning, and Natasha is washing off a mint face mask when her phone buzzes. She dries her hands and checks the message, thinking it’ll be a discount code email, or Steve complaining about the price of toothpaste. She hasn’t heard anything from James yet, and isn’t really expecting to; if he doesn’t want to go on a platonic date with a dazzlingly beautiful martial arts instructor then that’s his loss, and there are no hard feelings. Instead of emails or Steve on her phone screen, though, there’s four texts from an unsaved number.

_hi natasha its james, my friends call me bucky_

_im really sorry for texting late but i didnt really know if rebecca was joking_

_im glad she wasn’t joking_

_im free tonight if you still wanna have dinner and save me from my mom_

Natasha can’t really blame him for waiting so long to contact her. It must be a pretty weird situation to be in. She adds him to her contact list and texts back.

_I’ll meet you in Gino’s at 7 if you like Italian. This isn’t a date._

* * *

 

She manages to put off getting ready until six, when she drags herself off the couch and into her bedroom. It’s the only place that Steve’s stupid incense obsession hasn’t tainted, and she treasures it deeply.

She straightens her hair and puts on shiny red lipstick to match; she’s wearing an open-backed black dress with red heels, and she knows she looks good. It’s just a shame that this isn’t a real date, with someone she could actually be romantically involved with. A girl had given Natasha her number at the gay bar last week when she went out with Steve, and they’d had a nice evening of flirting followed by some pretty great sex, but Nat hadn’t called since. She knows that the people you meet at bars don’t really make for life partners, and she doesn’t really mind. Romance isn’t really on her list of priorities. Right now, at the top of that list is getting to Gino’s on time, so she checks her lipstick one last time and hails a cab.

She gets to Gino’s three minutes late and sees a twenty-something guy who looks shockingly like Rebecca, wearing smart black jeans and a button up shirt and looking more than a bit uncomfortable. He glances up in relief when she walks over and sits down opposite him. There are already two glasses of white wine on the table, which Nat appreciates.

“Hey, Bucky. I’m Nat.” She thinks a handshake would be too awkward, so she leaves it at that. Bucky smiles a little.

“Hey, are you hungry? We should order.” He looks around for a waiter, and Nat smiles, because it’s kind of funny how desperate he is for this to be over.

“No need to be in such a rush,” she says, and she’s only slightly teasing, because she’s very good at reading people, and Bucky is being transparent. He whips his head back to her and looks reprimanded.

“Sorry, it’s just- I’m hungry, and you said yourself, this isn’t a date. We’re both just here so my mom stops bothering me.” He sounds slightly bitter when he says it, like he’s used to being disapproved of.

“Well, don’t take offence. I don’t like men. But if I did, who knows, you might be my type.”

Bucky smiles crookedly. “Well, don’t take offence to this either, but I’m not interested in women.”

Before Nat can respond, her phone rings. Steve’s face flashes up. Nat gives Bucky one of her rare genuine smiles, acknowledging his admission. She knows it’s not easy sometimes.

“I have to get this, it’s my friend checking up.” She hits accept. “Steve?”

“How are things? He’s ok?”

“Da,” Nat always switches to Russian when she’s talking about dates, because she doesn’t want to hurt feelings, and because she deserves her privacy. Steve isn’t quite fluent yet, but he’s picking it up quickly. “Ètot mužčina platit za vsë, ya nadeyus’.”

Steve laughs down the line. “Yeah, let’s hope. I’m glad things are going well, should I wait up?”

“Niet, neechevo. Paka, Steve.”

“Paka, Natasha.”

Nat hangs up and turns back to Bucky. “So, where were we?”

“Ty govoriš' po-russki?” Bucky says, his eyes almost accusing, but mainly curious.

“Yes, I went to school in Russia. What about you?” She takes a sip of wine and examines the lipstick stain left behind.

“I learnt it a few years back, I had some idea I wanted to move there and change my life, or something. I was in a bad place, but what’s new. Oh, and I’m not paying for everything. We’re both gay, the least we can do is split the bill.” Bucky is properly smiling now, and Nat is happy to see it. She gets the impression he needs to smile more. And then she has an idea.

“We shouldn’t eat here. Come back to mine, we can order pizza, and I think you should meet my flatmate.”  


* * *

On Sunday morning, Natasha goes into the kitchen for coffee and sees something that she might have been hoping for, but definitely was not expecting.

Steve and Bucky are sitting at the breakfast bar, eating eggs and bacon, and they’re deep in conversation. They’re both smiling; Nat is smugly pleased that her idea was a good one. She’s always prided herself on understanding people, even when they don’t want to be understood.

“I see you stayed over, Bucky,” she says, spooning out coffee and putting the Italian cafetiere on the stove. “Coffee?”

“Yeah, please, Nat,” Steve says absently, still looking at Bucky. Natasha watches them moon over each other for a few minutes while the coffee boils. They’re talking quietly, laughing, heads together. She hopes it’s more than a one-night thing; Steve doesn’t really do those, and it’s been a while since his last relationship. Poor guy is going through a dry spell longer than the Sahara.

She pours out three mugs of coffee and leaves two of them on the table.

“I hope you boys used protection,” she says on the way out.

She phones Rebecca, and they establish that this time next week Natasha will have a proper date with a different member of the Barnes family, one she’s actually attracted to. The only condition that Rebecca accepted on was a promise of no double dates with Bucky.

“You, Nat, I like. James, I see enough of.”

Natasha laughs. “Why did it take me going on a date with your gay brother for us to admit we like each other?”

She can hear Rebecca’s shrug, hear her smile.

“Sometimes it takes a push.”

**Author's Note:**

> Translation of Russian:  
> "Yes. This gentleman will pay for everything, I hope."  
> "No, don't worry. Bye, Steve."  
> "You speak Russian?"


End file.
